"The Flexible Presidency " - No Holds Barred: Obama’s doublespeak Russia, Israel.

"The Flexible Presidency " - No Holds Barred: Obama’s doublespeak Russia, Israel.(JPost).By Shmuley Boteach.US President Barack Obama’s recent open mic comments to President Sergei Medvedev of Russia are troubling, which explains why Obama and the White House have decided to make light of them. Obama told Medvedev that he and Putin have to give him “space” on missile defense until his reelection when he’ll have far greater “flexibility,” presumably because he no longer has to answer to the American people. A great debate has been waged this year as to whether President Obama is reliably pro- Israel and deserves the support of the pro-Israel community. The president made his case to AIPAC by listing a long record of promoting military and intelligence cooperation with the Jewish state, arguing that “I have Israel’s back.” For the first three years of his presidency, Obama largely declared Israel’s settlements to be illegitimate and put near-unilateral pressure on Israel to make peace without any expectations from the Palestinian side. Ever since his self-confessed “shellacking” during the mid-term elections, part of which was due to his perceived unfriendliness to the Jewish state, the president decided to make nice with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and treat him with the same respect he accords other world leaders, albeit without the warmth of the two-armed embrace he reserved for Hugo Chavez or the bow he accorded the King of Saudi Arabia. At the UN in September, 2011, the president strongly supported Israel against a Palestinian attempt at unilateral statehood. He deserves credit for the effort. Then, he talked tough to Iran and imposed even greater sanctions. The president has gotten much better in his posture vis-à-vis Israel. But the all-important question here is: Why? Based on his actions, rather than his rhetoric, I believe the answer to the president’s new posture toward Israel lies in his words to President Medvedev. He has no “flexibility” before an election in which Jewish votes and financial support are critical to what will be a very close race.
And he therefore cannot be trusted to refrain from exerting undue pressure on Israel after the election to push through a peace deal that will likely not lead to peace but will simply compromise Israel’s security. Say what you want about Jimmy Carter, at least his disdain for Israel and its leadership was out in the open and consistent. Here is a man who outrageously compared Israel in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid to apartheid South Africa. Likewise Clinton, who, as president, treated Netanyahu mostly with contempt, attacked him yet again in September of last year as an obstacle to peace. But Obama’s doublespeak when microphones are off and on is troubling. If the president dislikes Netanyahu, let him not play games with the American Jewish community and feign friendship for votes. After all, Obama came to the White House as the anti-politician, a man who was going to change the ways of Washington. A leader who was going to say what he means and mean what he says.How disappointing to discover he is guilty of the same beltway double-speak he once condemned. How worrisome to ponder what his policies on Israel will be once he has greater “flexibility.”Hmmmm........You may bet on the fact that he will not veto another Palestinian statehood bid if reelected.Read the full story here.